Bag holder



K. O. LARSON Jan. 10, 1967 BAG HOLDER Filed March 2, 1965 INVENTOR. KARL O. LAPSON ATTORNEYS Myw United States Patent This invention pertains to a new and improved bag holder and more specifically to apparatus for holding a bag open so that articles may be placed therein, which apparatus positively engages folded-over corners of the bag to substantially eliminate tearing of the bag by the holder as articles are placed therein.

In prior art bag holders the sides of the bags are clamped in several places by a single thickness of the paper bag. Thus, these devices have a tendency to tear the bag as it is being filled if a great amount of care is not utilized. Also, in general as the load in the bag becomes larger the bag has a tendency to slip out of these prior art bag holders since these holders simply press one thickness of the bag against a side of a frame by means of a spring-biased clamp or the like.

In the present invention a frame is provided which has a generally rectangular shaped opening therein for receiving the open end of a paper bag. The frame has four guide channels therein one edge of which is open and in communication with the generally rectangular opening. Each of the guide channels is adapted to receive a folded portion or corner of the bag therein. Four cam-acting gripping dogs are pivotally attached to the frame and each is associated with a guide channel. The gripping dogs operate through an opening in the guide channels to grip the folded corner of the bag within the channel and maintain the corner of the bag therein. The gripping dogs are mounted so that the gripping force exerted is directly proportional to the weight exerted downwardly upon the bag. Also, the gripping dogs are easily releasable after the bag is filled or at any time prior thereto. At least two skirts are attached to the frame and depend therefrom downwardly along the inner edge of the generally rectangular opening in the frame. These skirts maintain the sides of the bag separated and contiguous with the inner sides of the frame.

Thus, the bag is gripped firmly and as the downward force on the bag is increased the gripping force is also increased whereby the likelihood of the bag slipping out of the holder as it is loaded is virtually eliminated. Also, since the gripping dogs operate on a double thickness of the bag at the corners, tearing of the bag is substantially eliminated. In addition the bag can be quickly and easily disengaged from the bag holder. Besides the previously enumerated advantages the present invention is relatively simple to construct and inexpensive to produce.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved bag holder.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a bag holder which grips double thicknesses of the bag in a plurality of areas to substantially eliminate tearing of the bag.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a bag holder in which the gripping force of the bag is increased as the weight exerted upon the bag is increased whereby slipping of the bag in the bag holder is virtually eliminated.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the accompanying specification, claims, and drawings.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the figures:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of the present invention;

Patented Jan. 10, 1967 ice I FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1, parts thereof broken away;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged detailed view of one corner of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view as seen from the line 44 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the corner shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view as seen from the line 66 in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of a modified embodiment somewhat reduced in size.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of. the present invention wherein the frame designated 10 is generally rectangular having two sides 19 and 20 and two ends 18 and 21. The frame 10 is constructed of a left one-half 11 and a right one-half 12. The two halves 11 and .12 are fixedly joined approximately midway of the two ends 18 and 21 of frame 10. The two halves 11 and 12 are joined by some means such as welding and the junction is made so that the inner surface thereof is substantially smooth to prevent snagging of bags or the like. The frame 10 defines a generally rectangular shaped, bag receiving opening 13, which in FIG. -1 has a paper bag 14 therein. It should be understood, however, that the opening might take on any other convenient form, such as eliptical as illustrated in FIG. 7, circular, etc.

Each corner of the frame 10 has a guide channel 15 formed therein. The four guide channels 15 have a generally U-shaped cross section with the opening there-of in communication with the rectangular opening 13 in frame 10. The guide channels 15 are an integral part of the material of frame 19 and are formed by extending the sides of frame 16 past the ends and making a 180 bend to return the side parallel to itself but spaced slightly therefrom, after which the material is bent to form the end of the frame 10. It should be understood that the guide channels 15 might be separate parts of the bag holder and fixedly mounted to a frame 10 having a bag receiving opening therein. Since all of the guide channels 15 are similar in the embodiment a single channel will be used for explanation. An enlarged detailed view of a single guide channel 15 can be seen more clearly in FIG. 5.

In FIG. 5 the side 20 of frame 10 is extended past the end 21 to 22 where it is bent in a angle back on itself and parallel to side 20 but spaced slightly to produce a U-shaped cross section. The portion of the frame 10 parallel to side 20 is designated 23. Portion 23 of frame 10 joins end 21 in a 90 angle. As can be seen in FIG. 5 one edge of the guide channel 15 is open .and in communication with the rectangular shaped opening .13 in frame 10. Each of the guide channels 15 are adapted to receive therein a folded corner 25 of the paper bag 14.

A cam-acting gripping dog 30 is associated with each of the guide channels 15 and pivotally attached to the frame 10 in a manner to be explained presently. In FIGS. 2-5 enlarged views of an oblong gripping dog have rounded ends thereon and the manner in which it is associated with a guide channel 15 is illustrated. The side 23 of the guide channel 15 has an opening 31 cut therein. A portion 32 of the material from the opening 31 is bent outwardly from the 180 bend 22 perpendicular to the side 23 and parallel to the end 21 of the frame 10. This outwardly extending portion 32 forms a part of the mounting structure for the gripping dog 30. The gripping dog 30 is mounted between the portion 32 and the end 21 by drilling a hole through the portion 32, the dog 30 and the end 21. The gripping dog is then pivotally mounted by some means such as bolt 33. It should be noted that the bolt 33 passes through so that the gripping dog 30 pivots about the bolt 33 in a cam-like fashion.

Referring to FIG. 3 the, right end of the dog 30 acts as a handle while'the rounded left end of the dog 30, which has a bolt 33 passing therethrough slightly off center, generally has a portion thereof butting against the inner side of the extended portion of side which forms one side of the guide channel 15. The opening 31 in the side 23 is large enough to allow the left end of dog 30 to pass therethrough and butt against the side 20 as well as to accommodate limited rotation of dog 30 about the bolt 33. As the right end of dog 30 is raised the dog rotates counterclockwise about bolt 33 and in a cam-like manner the pressure of the left end of dog 30 against the side 20 is increased. Thus, when the folded corner of 25 of bag 14 is placed between the left end of dog and the side 20 in the guide channel 15 any downward force on the bag 14 tends to rotate the dog 30 cam-like, counterclockwise in FIG. 3, which increases the pressure of the dog 30on'the folded corner 25 of the bag 14,thereby, substantially preventing any slipping of the folded corner 25 out of the guide channel 15.

Referring to FIG. 4 a torsion spring has at least a turn about bolt 33 for mounting purposes. One end of torsion spring 35 bears against the side 23 of the guide channel 15 while the other end is engaged with the underside of the dog 30 to the left of bolt 33 to produce an upward bias thereon. As the left end of dog 30 is forced upward the cam-like right end of dog 30 engages the folded corner 25 of the paper bag 14 in a gripping or clamping action. Thus, the dog 30 is normally biased in the bag gripping position and manual pressure must be exerted downward on the left end thereof before the folded corner 25 of bag 14 can be placed in the guide channel'15 or to release a bag from the holder after it has been placed therein and filled.

Dog 30 is in general composed of a resilient material having a relatively high coefficient of friction such as a hard rubber or the like. Thus, as the folded corner 25 of the bag 14 is forced downward by weightexerted thereon the dog 30 tends to rotate clockwise in FIG. 4 increasing the pressure on the corner of the bag and substantially preventing slipping thereof. v

A pair of downwardly extending'skirt members 40 are each pivotally attached to a side 19 or 20 of frame 10 by means of a pair of hinges 41, seen more clearly in FIGS. 1 and 6. A single hinge 41 consists of a loop of material integrally attached to skirt' member 40 which is threaded through a slot 42 near the upper edgeof the side of frame 10 as it is bent into a loop. Thus, the skirt member 40 may-be pivoted upwardly as a bag is received in the opening 13 of frame 10 and is then returned to the downward position to hold the sides of the bag 14 separated from each other and contiguous with the inner sides of the frame 10. A skirt member 40 is shown in the upward position in dotted lines in FIG. 6, and in the downward position, or bag holding position, in full lines. It should be understood that skirt members 40 could be an integral part of the sidesof frame 10 and could consist simply of a turned-over lip at the upper edge thereof. Also, in the use of exceptionally Wide ,bags or the like it may be desirable to use skirt members at the ends of the frame 10 as well as at the sides. a

A pair of slightly raised buttons 43 operate as mount-- on some convenient device a pair of slots, not shown,

' are provided into which the shank portion of the raised buttons 43 can be engaged. The buttons 43 mount the bag holder firmly on a wall or the like for convenient use thereof.

Thus, I have disclosed a bag holder which firmly grips the folded corners of a paper bag whereby tearing of the bag by the bag holder is substantiallyeliminated. Also, the gripping force of the bag holder is increased as the downward pressure of the bag is increased to substantially prevent any slipping of the bag in the bag holder and the bag is quickly and easily releasable from the holder whenever it is desired.

While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of this invention further modifications and improvements will occur to those skilled in the art. I desire it to be understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular form shown and I intend in the appended claims to cover all modifications which do'not depart from the spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. A bag holder comprising: a

(a) a frame having'a bag-receiving opening therein;

(b) a plurality of guide channels mounted on said frame and having one edge thereof open and in communication with said bag-receiving opening for receiving folded portions of a bag therein; and

(c) a cam-acting, gripping dog pivotally mounted on said frame for gripping engagement of said-folded bag portions in each of said guide channels, said gripping dog being mounted so as to increase the gripping pressure as the downward force on the bag increases. v

2. The bag holder substantially as set forth in claim 1 wherein the guide channels are formed from and are an integralpart of the frame.

3. The bag holder substantially as set forth in claim 1 wherein the gripping dogs are formed'from a somewhat compressible resilient material having a relatively high coefficient of friction.

4. The 'bag holder substantially as set forth in claim 1 and having, inaddition, biasing means attached to the gripping dogs to maintain them normally'in the baggripping position.

5. The bag holder substantially as set forth in claim 1 and having, in addition, skirt members attached to the frame and exte'n'ding'downwardly' along the inner sides thereof for maintaining the sides of the bag separated and contiguous with the inner sides 'of said frame.

6. A bag holder comprising: 7

(a) a frame having a bag-receiving 'openingtherein;

(b) a plurality of guide channel's'mounted on said frame and having one edge' thereof open and in communication with said bag-receiving opening for receiving folded portions of a bag therein; and

(c) gripping means mounted for gripping engagement of said folded bag portions'in each of said guide channels.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner. K. L'WR-IGHT, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A BAG HOLDER COMPRISING: (A) A FRAME HAVING A BAG-RECEIVING OPENING THEREIN; (B) A PLURALITY OF GUIDE CHANNELS MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME AND HAVING ONE EDGE THEREOF OPEN AND IN COMMUNICATION WITH SAID BAG-RECEIVING OPENING FOR RECEIVING FOLDED PORTIONS OF A BAG THEREIN; AND (C) A CAM-ACTING, GRIPPING DOG PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME FOR GRIPPING ENGAGEMENT OF SAID FOLDED BAG PORTIONS IN EACH OF SAID GUIDE CHANNELS, SAID GRIPPING DOG BEING MOUNTED SO AS TO INCREASE THE GRIPPING PRESSURE AS THE DOWNWARD FORCE ON THE BAG INCREASES. 